Performer Notes

Dirty Three: Mick Turner (guitar, melodica, loops); Warren Ellis (violin, viola, piano); Jim White (drums, percission).
Additional personnel: David Grubbs (piano, harmonium).
Recorded at Electrical Audio, Chicago, Illinois in August and September 1997.
Personnel: Mick Turner (guitar, melodica, loops); Warren Ellis (violin, viola, piano); David Grubbs (piano, harmonium); Jim White (drums, percussion).
Recording information: Electric Audio, Chicago, IL (08/1991-09/1991).
Illustrator: Mick Turner.
It's a shame that one of rock music's best instrumental outfits is also its best-kept secret: the Dirty Three. Who would have thought that a trio comprised of electric guitar, violin and drums (Look ma, no bass!) could make such satisfying and compelling music. In a time when classical recordings often resort to studio "tricks" in order to obtain a perfect performance, the need for instrumental technique is diminished, so if you're looking for dazzling displays of virtuosity, look elsewhere. If you're looking for sincere, mournful, rag-tag melodies, then you've found a home. And yes, the violin is out of tune, but you won't care because it only adds to the emotional impact. Humble music for arrogant times.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (5/14/98, p.57) - 3.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...Because OCEAN SONGS moves like sweet lava...it is easy to overlook the emotional, transportive force of Dirty Three's instrumental, scorched cabaret blues....pulls you into its deep, blue mood, lifts you out and leaves you cleansed."

Entertainment Weekly (4/3/98, p.97) - "...This trio's impressionistic instrumental reveries are positively mesmerizing....it's really all about the way violinist Warren Ellis draws out gorgeous, droning melody lines while guitarist Mick Turner and drummer Jim White fill in the blanks behind him."

- Rating: A-

Uncut (p.102) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]ts violin-and-piano moods are beautifully shaded and its sadness elegantly expressed."

Magnet (p.116) - "[S]low, brooding and hypnotic."

Option (5-6/98, p.83) - "...[violinist Warren Ellis] can draw you into his world with or without his fiddle..."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.123) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "OCEAN SONGS is an album of spume-flecked, salt-gilled melancholy."

NME (Magazine) (3/28/98, p.40) - 8 (out of 10) - "...OCEAN SONGS...further serves to underline their unique talent for making furiously emotional music....the songs here are submerged in quiet repetition and crashing melancholy..."

Album: Ocean Songs
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Sirena	More Info...
2)	The Restless Waves	More Info...
3)	Distant Shore	More Info...
4)	Authentic Celestial Music	More Info...
5)	Backwards Voyager	More Info...
6)	Last Horse On The Sand	More Info...
7)	Sea Above, Sky Below	More Info...
8)	Black Tide	More Info...
9)	Deep Waters	More Info...
10)	Ends Of The Earth	More Info...

Album: Ocean Songs
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Sirena	More Info...
2)	The Restless Waves	More Info...
3)	Distant Shore	More Info...
4)	Authentic Celestial Music	More Info...
5)	Backwards Voyager	More Info...
6)	Last Horse On The Sand	More Info...
7)	Sea Above, Sky Below	More Info...
8)	Black Tide	More Info...
9)	Deep Waters	More Info...
10)	Ends Of The Earth	More Info...